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Tag: Michael Pittman Jr.

  • Colts defense hoping to get a reprieve as Caleb Williams and Bears struggling offense visit Indy

    Colts defense hoping to get a reprieve as Caleb Williams and Bears struggling offense visit Indy

    Chicago (1-1) at Indianapolis (0-2)

    Sunday, 1 p.m. EDT, CBS

    BetMGM NFL Odds: Colts by 1

    Series record: Colts lead 24-19

    Against the spread: Chicago 1-0-1, Indianapolis 1-1

    Last meeting: Colts won 19-11 at Chicago on Oct. 4, 2020.

    Last week: Bears lost 19-13 at Houston; Colts lost 16-10 at Green Bay

    Bears offense: overall (31), rush (28), pass (32), scoring (18-T)

    Bears defense: overall (8), rush (13), pass (11), scoring (6-T)

    Colts offense: overall (14), rush (16), pass (17), scoring (18-T)

    Colts defense: overall (31), rush (32), pass (8), scoring (22-T)

    Turnover differential: Bears plus-1, Colts minus-3.

    Bears player to watch

    QB Caleb Williams. It’s been a rough start for the No. 1 overall draft pick. Only five QBs have a lower completion rate than Williams (56.1%) and the recently benched Bryce Young is the only starter averaging fewer yards per game than Williams’ 133.5. The 2022 Heisman Trophy winner hasn’t thrown a TD pass, but has been sacked a league-high-tying nine times. Perhaps this will be the week he and the Bears turn things around.

    Colts player to watch

    WR Michael Pittman Jr. Indy’s top receiver showed his frustration following the Green Bay loss and it had nothing to do with his role in this offense. He’s been targeted a team-high 15 times and is second on the team with eight receptions. The previous time Pittman spoke out, in October 2023, he responded by catching 53 passes and helping Indy go 4-2 over the next six games.

    Key matchup

    Bears running game vs. Colts run defense. Williams isn’t the only one struggling in Chicago. The offense has just one offensive TD this season. Still, this could be a matchup that helps the Bears get jump-started. Indy is allowing a league-high 237.0 yards rushing per game, and until it stops the run consistently, teams will continue to test the Colts.

    Key injuries

    Chicago WR Keenan Allen (heel) missed last weekend’s game and was one of four players who did not practice Wednesday. The others were fullback Khari Blasingame (hand and knee), offensive tackle Teven Jenkins (thigh) and defensive tackle Zacch Pickens (groin). Offensive tackle Kiran Amegadjie (quadricep), defensive tackle Andrew Billings (groin), guard Nate Davis (groin), rookie receiver Rome Odunze (knee) and defensive ends Montez Sweat (elbow) and DeMarcus Walker (foot) were all limited Wednesday. … The Colts already have two defensive starters — three-time Pro Bowl DT DeForest Buckner (sprained ankle) and starting CB JuJu Brents (knee) — on injured reserve. Starting safety Julian Blackmon (shoulder) and WR Josh Downs (ankle) practiced Wednesday and are hopeful of returning, but kicker Matt Gay (quadricep) and rookie DE Laiatu Latu (hip) did not practice Wednesday.

    Series notes

    Indianapolis has won two straight and four of the past six in a series featuring two foes that moved into separate conferences as part of 1970 AFL-NFL merger. … Indy won the only postseason contest, beating the Bears 29-17 to win Super Bowl 41. … Chicago won the first NFL regular-season game played at Lucas Oil Stadium, 29-13 in the 2008 season opener. … Colts owner Jim Irsay grew up in Chicago.

    Stats and stuff

    The Bears have won five of their past eight games overall, but have lost eight of their past 10 on the road. … Chicago opened this season with three straight non-division games, the first time that’s happened since 2002. … Williams and backup QB Tyson Bagent are the only Bears rookies to win their first career starts over the past two decades. … WR D.J. Moore leads all players from the 2018 rookie class in yards receiving with 6,654. … Chicago has allowed 117 sacks since the start of the 2022 season. … The Bears defense has allowed just three points and just 169 yards in the second halves of the first two games. … Chicago is tied with San Francisco for most interceptions (24) since the start of the 2023 season. … Matt Eberflus served as Indy’s defensive coordinator from 2018-2021 before taking the Bears head coaching job. … The Colts are trying to avoid starting a second straight season by losing its first two home games. … Indy averages 6.68 yards per play, the third highest in the NFL, but have finished each of its first two games with 20 or fewer minutes of possession time. … Second-year QB Anthony Richardson has run for five TDs in his first six starts as a pro but owns a 2-4 record. … RB Jonathan Taylor had his first 100-yard game of the season last week and needs two TD runs to pass Marshall Faulk (42) for fourth in franchise history. … WR Alec Pierce is one of four NFL players with two catches of 50 or more yards this season. Both came in the Week 1 loss to Houston. … LB Zaire Franklin has had 22 games with at least 10 tackles and needs one more to break a tie with Gary Brackett for No. 2 in Colts history. … P Rigoberto Sanchez is tied for the league lead with a net average of 48.8 yards. … Indy’s six sacks through weeks puts the Colts on pace to match last year’s single-season franchise record (51).

    Fantasy tip

    Taylor is always a safe play, but against a stingy Bears defense, Pittman may be the best bet in what could be a low-scoring game.

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    AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

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  • Receivers Extended Around The League – Eagles One Step Ahead – Philadelphia Sports Nation

    Receivers Extended Around The League – Eagles One Step Ahead – Philadelphia Sports Nation

    When you get things done ahead of 31 other teams in the league, there’s always a reward.

    For Howie Roseman and the Eagles, it’s a sigh of relief knowing your star players under contract for the next 2-6 years. And they’ve managed to save MILLIONS while doing so.
    Back in April, the Eagles extended multiple players. Now that the ink has dried on those contracts. It was about time the rest of the league got around to paying some of the other superstars.

    Eagles Remain Ahead

    In April, the Eagles signed their star receivers to two massive extensions.

    • April 15th,  DeVonta Smith, 3-year, $75M + 5th year option
    • April 25th, A.J. Brown, 3-year, $96M

    These contracts don’t come without merit, below has been the duos stat line the last two seasons.

    • DeVonta Smith – 33GP, 2,262Rec Yards, 14TD
    • A.J. Brown – 34GP, 2,952Rec Yards, 18TD

    While these may have been the first few receivers to be paid this off-season, they certainly weren’t the biggest paydays handed out in recent signings.

     

    This Weeks Extensions

    In the last few days. Multiple receivers have gotten contract extensions with their current team, including:

    Let’s see how these recent contracts compare with base stats of the following two seasons in comparison to the Eagles duo

    • Nico Collins – 24GP, 1,778Rec Yards, 10TD
    • Jaylen Waddle – 31GP, 2,370Rec Yards, 12TD

    When comparing to the Collins deal things might look great. Keep in mind that’s only 1 season with C.J. Stroud as the Texans Quarterback. Things might change in the upcoming season as well, with the addition of Stefon Diggs as well as the hopeful return for Tank Dell’s sophomore season.

    The same goes for looking at Waddle’s deal. Similar to DeVonta Smith who’s in a WR2 role behind Brown/Tyreek Hill. DeVonta Smith has put up similar numbers (108 less yards) and will be getting paid nearly $10M less across the 3 years of his deal. With these new contracts for star studded teams, which receiver would you rather in this scenario?

     

    Past Deals

    Of course these weren’t the only Receivers to break the bank this off-season, in fact multiple have already seen their new deals come through, including:

    • March 11th, Michael Pittman Jr, 3-year, $70M
    • April 24th, Amon-Ra St. Brown, 4-year, $120.01M
    • March 13th, Calvin Ridley, 4-year, $92M

    Of course with their payday, comes the stats. How does this other batch of receivers hold up to the last 4?

    • Michael Pittman Jr. – 32GP, 2,077Rec Yards, 8TD
    • Amon-Ra St. Brown – 32GP, 2,676Rec Yards, 16TD
    • Calvin Ridley – 17GP, 1,016Rec Yards, 8TD

    Even if Calvin Ridley had played the 2022 season. His numbers would still be somewhere between Pittman and DeVonta Smith. Depending on what team he had gone to, Ridley could have surpassed the 1,200 mark with ease.

    With all these receivers being under contract for the next 3-5 Years. You’d think that means the rest of the big names due in the upcoming year have seen new deals? For some, that’s not the case.

     

    No Contract In Sight?

    Also from the 2021 Draft class with Smith and Waddle, is Cincinnati’s Ja’Marr Chase. Entering his 4th season, Chase has put up the following his last two years as a Bengal:

    • Ja’Marr Chase – 28GP, 2,262Rec Yards, 16TD

    Without a contract, the Bengals have exercised their $21.8M 5th year option for the following season. It will be hard to deny Chase of an extension. Even without Joe Burrow for lengthy periods, Chase has still been able to have success.

    But in the NFC, there’s two more names struggling for a payday.

    • CeeDee Lamb – 34GP, 3,108Rec Yards, 21TD
    • Justin Jefferson – 27GP, 2,883Rec Yards, 13TD

    Seeing every other team continue to lock up receivers might be good for the players, but certainly not the teams. A.J and Amon-Ra’s deals are going to be the closest comparison for this duo to get paid. And if they’re trying to takeover the #1 and #2 spot for highest paid receivers, teams will be looking to pay north of $30M to keep these players under contract.

     

    After all the deals and carousel doors of acquiring younger receivers, what contracts would you offer these players who might be left still bargaining for a deal come next off-season?

     

     

    Photo Credit: Rich Schultz / AP Photo

    Tyler L’Heureux

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